


Every dog has his day

by ILookDaftWithOneShoe



Series: 'Even psychopaths have emotions. Then again, maybe not' [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A little bit filler and a little bit floof, Assassin/mercenary!Loki, Fluff, M/M, Tony and Loki making eyes at each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1919253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILookDaftWithOneShoe/pseuds/ILookDaftWithOneShoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six months on, and Loki is, probably for the first time in his life, happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Every dog has his day

**Author's Note:**

> I miss Loki Feison in so many ways.
> 
> Anyway, I'm almost certainly writing a fic dealing with post-CA:TWS SHIELD and Loki's involvement in the drama. So many plot ideas.
> 
> So this is a little bit of a filler to take us from here to there. I also wanted to write it because reasons, but I'm sure its' filler nature shows through more than I'd like it to.

Loki's first priority on arriving home was always the same: track Tony down and curl up with him somewhere.

It was a new trait, or at least, a trait of post-Afghanistan Loki, that he enjoyed physical contact and began to crave it after a while. It had been a week, and damnit, he wanted some cuddles.

Loki was not the only person in their relationship who divided their lives into pre- and post-Afghanistan. That was a point they bonded about.

Unfortunately, Loki had not been able to catch his usual flight that week, so he was home much later, and Tony was in bed. It was about two in the morning, so Loki had been hoping that his dear boyfriend would be awake working, or something of that sort.

But to find him Loki had to make his way up to Tony's penthouse, to their shared bedroom, and when he got there, Tony was blissed out, drooling on his pillow a little.

There was a note on the nightstand.

_Loki, babe, I'm too tired. See you in the morning. xx_

That was straightforward enough. Loki removed several knives from his person, then his black Doc Martens (how he loved them) and then his suit, leaving him in just a singlet and boxers. Then he burrowed into his side of the bed, already warm from Tony's body heat.

"Mmm?" Tony grunted.

"Don't mind me," Loki whispered. "Hello, love."

"Lokes, you smell like you just smoked about three packs of cigs in half an hour," Tony said.

"Sorry. Someone spilt an ashtray down my front," Loki murmured. "I don't usually smell this rank, do I?"

"You usually smell perfect," Tony said sleepily.

"Go to sleep," Loki smiled, leaning over and kissing Tony on the forehead.

-O.O-

Fortunately, their conversation in the morning was less sleepy and cigarette-orientated.

"Morning, Pixie Stick," Tony said, leaning over Loki.

"Ng," was all Loki managed.

"There's bacon downstairs," Tony said. "I don't know where it came from, but it's bacon."

Loki opened one eye. Tony laughed at him then.

"Oh, sure, my glorious presence doesn't perk you up, but bacon does," Tony said, mock-hurt.

"Are you crispy, soaking in your own fat and backed up by chicken foetus?" Loki asked dryly. "Exactly. Wait, scratch that, that's disgusting."

"Yeah, I'm glad you realised that. Come on; breakfast, and then a shower because you still stink."

"It's a deal," Loki said, wriggling out of bed. "But bacon first. Always bacon."

Steve and Natasha were both doing their shift at SHIELD, so they were nowhere to be found as Tony and Loki made their way downstairs, but Clint was there eating cereal and playing Grand Theft Auto, and tidied-away dishes suggested Bruce had been through too.

"Made you bacon," Clint called. "In exchange for information."

"Thanks," Tony said. "What kind?"

"From Loki," Clint said. "What's Nat working on? She won't answer her cellphone."

"To the best of my knowledge, she just finished a routine mission and is back at the Triskelion. I saw her last night," Loki answered.

"Huh," Clint said. His game was on pause now as he bit into another piece of toast.

"She'll be fine," Tony said. "She's the Black Widow."

"Thank you for the bacon, dear," Loki said cheerily, settling down to eat.

Between Loki and Tony there wasn't anything of an awkwardness anymore. Since Loki had decided to stay, he'd really meant it, and as such, he'd made every effort to drop his interpersonal barriers and let Tony into his head.

He hadn't quite managed it yet. But neither had Tony.

Loki had made it through the brief version of his life story about a week after coming back. But he was reluctant to get into the details of a lot of it, especially his infancy and his late teenage years. He'd been a very different person back then; before becoming an agent had exercised out a little of his crazy, he'd been borderline dangerous to be around, always looking for ways to gain a little more power over the people around him. And he wasn't quite ready to share his inner madman with his doting partner just yet.

That wasn't to say Tony didn't know about it. The week-on, week-off shift system Loki had with SHIELD had been agreed upon by both of them simply because no one wanted Loki getting stir-crazy around the place.

And stir-crazy Loki would've gotten. He'd known that the second he'd started to settle in at Stark Tower.

Clint never seemed to be at work, a mystery to all of them, but still seemed to be logging missions and training and filing all his paperwork. But Steve and Nat worked a similar system to Loki, only they came back to Avengers Tower a little less often.

Loki's last week had been spent making SHIELD's computers Loki-proof. Lots of time indoors, lots of staring at computer screens. He'd really been looking forward to this morning.

He'd been looking forward to the morning with Tony, more specifically.

Once he'd finished his breakfast, he leaned across the table, pulled Tony forward by the singlet, and kissed him warmly.

"PDA!" Clint called at them. "That is banned!"

"Look away," Loki called back, then went back to what he'd been doing. 

Once they broke apart at the mouth, Loki stole one of Tony's pieces of toast and took a big bite.

"Someone's in a good mood," Tony grinned.

"That I am," Loki said, taking another bite. "If you want me, I'll be ass-naked and soapy in the shower."

Tony made an interested noise at that and started eating a hell of a lot faster. Once Loki had vanished in the direction of elevator, he gave up on breakfast and followed him.

-O.O-

He was still afraid of water. Six months of stress-free living and persistence had done a great deal of good, but that wasn't enough.

Loki's hydrophobia was the reason he hadn't accompanied Steve and Nat on their most recent mission; it was on an ocean liner in the rain and no one wanted to even chance taking Loki. Early on, Loki's fears had led some people to crack a joke or two about his sanity, and his usefulness. He'd stopped that pretty quickly with sharp words. Hanging out with the Avengers also helped.

But could take a bath now, so long as he kept his head above water most of the time, and he could shower for a while perfectly calmly, and he could swim a few lengths backstroke. Still baby steps, but it was so much progress. He could go outside in the rain, too, which helped a whole lot.

Another thing that helped a lot with hydrophobia, aside from determination, was distraction. And Tony was the ideal distraction. Loki took far more showers with his lover than without him when he was in New York.

Hence why Loki managed a half hour shower that morning with Tony.

Once clean, dry, and feeling relatively content with his lot in life - Tony always paid such special attention to his scar and that made it hurt less - Loki dressed himself in loose, comfy clothes, slid on sunglasses, retrieved his book, and plopped himself down on a sun lounger.

It was early Summer, and Tony had taken one look at Loki's absurdly pale skin and decided that a tan was in order. On an impulse, he'd bought them a two-person sun lounger. After a minute of Loki reading in weak warmth of the mid-morning sun, Tony finished trimming his goatee and came out too with a tablet so he could get some work done.

Tony flopped down next to him, pressed a kiss to his temple, and got to work, a companionable silence forming between the two of them.

About twenty minutes into said silence, Loki's phone vibrated on his hip.

From Nat: _SHIELD engulfed by HYDRA. Cap and I working on it. Don't worry about us and don't listen to the news xx_

"Huh," Loki said.

"Hm?" Tony grunted.

"SHIELD's just been overtaken by HYDRA," Loki murmured. "That's not good."

"Nat and Cap okay?" Tony asked.

"Apparently, yes, and they don't want our help," Loki replied.

Tony retrieved his own phone. "JARVIS, fortify our systems against SHIELD, and warn me of anything happening on the SHIELD or HYDRA fronts."

"Yes, sir."

"Problem solved," Tony said. "Tell Nat to call us if she needs anything."

"I already have," Loki replied, sending the text and putting the phone back into his pocket.

It was his day off, after all.

About five minutes after that, Clint burst out onto the balcony. "Loki! Did Nat text you?"

"Mm-hm," Loki replied. "SHIELD's fucked, don't worry about her. I know."

"She didn't say about not worrying to me. Does that mean she thinks I should worry, but you shouldn't?" Clint said anxiously.

"Clint Barton," Loki said sagely. "I'm trying to forget SHIELD for a little while here. Natalia will ask for help if she wants it."

"If you say so," Clint replied. "Let me know if she says anything else."

He then headed back inside.

Loki didn't want to worry about Nat. She was perfectly capable of looking after herself, after all, and she was with Steve, who was also perfectly capable of looking after himself.

Nevertheless, Loki added another message: _If you don't check in every four or so hours, I'm coming after you._

Neither message got a reply for another twenty minutes, but the reply they got was succinct:

_Trust me, we're playing with big guns. If I need you you'll be there fast. Or else._

Loki smiled and managed to properly relax after that.

-O.O-

The scary thing for Loki was that he was content. He didn't do happy. He did amused, and gleeful, and joyful, but content implied a certain static quality to one's life that Loki hadn't really had earlier. He didn't do static, either.

But as he was working in the lab, perfecting a new AI virus that he'd been designing with Tony (it could beat encryptions by intelligently figuring them out. So far, it could give JARVIS twenty seconds of lag, which equated to being able to crash most other systems) he realised that he was content. Yes, there was drama at SHIELD and all that. But he didn't feel like his back was against the wall. And, so long as that SHIELD situation didn't turn into anything major, he would stay that way.

-O.O-

Things were quiet until that evening, when they watched the news and discovered that Captain America was now a wanted fugitive.

But Nat was still checking in every few hours, telling them to keep out, and Loki was inclined to do as she said.

However, Nick Fury was now maintaining radio silence. 

The knowledge that this wasn't a small thing had Loki out on the balcony looking over the city. As always, Tony wasn't too far off.

"You okay, babe?" Tony asked.

"Close enough," Loki commented. Subconsciously, his hand went roaming across his coat looking for a cigarette packet.

"Nope, no more of those," Tony said. "I hate it when you smoke."

"But I don't," Loki said with a slight pout.

That had been the subject of a minor debate. Loki had started smoking again. Tony had protested and taken all of Loki's fags away.

They'd come to an agreement on that too; Loki could do whatever the hell he liked to his body while he was on his SHIELD week, but he wouldn't smoke around Tony on his New York week.

Lots of agreements had been made between them. Rarely had one of them conceded completely to anything.

The big thing they'd agreed on was that Loki wanted to do more engineering and Tony wanted to spend more time with him in the lab. Loki's work was absorbing more and more of Tony's benches by the day.

"Yeah, well, rules are rules. I cut my beard the way you like it."

"The way that doesn't give me a rash," Loki interjected.

"Yeah, yeah. You worried about Nat?" Tony asked.

"Always. But it's HYDRA that concerns me more," Loki admitted. "She didn't say HYDRA had attacked SHIELD. She said 'engulfed'. SHIELD owns so many resources, has so much technology. And I don't like HYDRA."

HYDRA came a narrow second after the Ten Rings on the list of 'organisations Loki hated'. Hence Loki's distaste.

"It's going to be fine, Loki," Tony said. "You think there's anything in the world the Black Widow and Captain America can't beat? Come on."

Loki chuckled. "Natalia Romanova can beat anyone."

"And Steve."

"Whatever you say, dear," Loki said.

Tony smiled to himself, then leaned against the balcony edge with Loki and wrapped his arm around his waist. "She'll be fine. Everything'll be fine. And if it isn't, you and I will go to Washington and make it fine."

"Oh, yes. Now, I propose I give you a little refresher lesson," Loki said, intentionally adding a salacious note to his words.

"And what's that?" Tony purred.

Loki snatched his hand and led him inside. "Small arms. If you think for one second I'm letting you go up against HYDRA as just your rich bitch in tin can self, then my dear, you would struggle to be more wrong."

Ah, Loki's ongoing campaign to make Tony a little less helpless. That was another thing they'd reached an agreement on.

 _Though,_ Tony thought as Loki led him to one of the training rooms, _I wouldn't trade him for anything._


End file.
